Halloween (Oct 31)

I somehow lost the kids individual pictures for Halloween. :( This is a group picture that I've found on my computer. Jeannie and the YW had decided to go treat or treating together in our neighborhood. The "Die Hard" treat-or-treater had tons of fun though the rain was pouring at some point.

From right to left: Jenna G., Ashley G., Rachael G., Sarah D., Jady K., Jessie D., Jeannie K., Evan K., me and Ben G.

Jeannie's Home Coming (Oct 24)

It was Jeannie's homecoming last Sat, and it also happened to be the Church standard night as well as the youth dance afterwards. I am glad that she and Ashley chose to stay at the standard night and went to the homecoming after. This is her picutre of her at the dance having fun with her friends. I can't believe my child is turning 16 in a month!!!

Latest Projects

I have working on a few fun projects lately. Found some very interesting websites and learned how to mod podge. So, I mod podged pictures on a wooden frame to replace the broken one in the kitchen. Johnny and the kids thought I did an amazing job and they truly enjoyed looking at it.

A few weeks ago, the kids and I went to a thrift store and got this nice looking rattan chair for $7.50. No kidding... it's a steal! After I cleaned up the cushion with some antibacteria spray, I sewed the cover with a floral patterned and make a pillow for that also. It just looked so good now!!!

Ok, Jady had outgrown her poncho, so I got some fleece and make her a double sided poncho. It looke pretty cool and she thought herself being the super hero!!! :) Should have matched the pattern on the front. Oh well....

Nursemaid Elbow Again!!!

Oh my goodness... Jady had another nursemaid incident again. This time happened to be at the church. Jady was playing with Jeannie's friend, and her extended arm was pulled while piggy backing. She was screaming, and refused to use her arm. All we could do was to stablize the elbow and toold her to the Dr. first thing in the morning. She was feeling all better right after Dr. Safier popped it back into place. Hope this won't happen again. It was her left arm last time and right arm this time!

Geothermal

We finally made the decision to put in the geothermal system in the house after a month of researching. With the global warming concern and the high rising cost of fuel, gas and oil, Johnny and I thought it's not a bad idea to invest some "green" and valuable system in our home.

The guys came in on Monday to line up all the pipe works and vents throughout the house. The digging started on Wed. and Thursday. Four tons of loops were put in our backyard... so no pool in the future!

The guys did the pipe works were excellent!!! They were Vietnamese, hard working people. They came here on time, and cleaned up so well. There wasn't much dust to clean up after putting some 30+ vents in the whole house. All vents were spaced out and installed onto the ceiling in each room. I am 120% satisfied with their job! We instantly feel the warm in all three floors after it's been installed. It will be a test in the winter though! Will be excited to see how much we can save for the month...

As for the digging... they are ok! We had a problem Sat. night and find out that the main drained was clogged. I started the washer while in the laundry room when Jady had an accident. It was actually a blessing that she had an accident because I was cleaning her up in the utility sink, but to find out the pipes, as well as the toilet attached to the laundry room were clogged. I went and tried to plunge the drain, but nothing seemed to work. So, I called the home warranty company and wasn't able to get any help from any one at all... For one, they don't have "guaranteed" emergency service, and second, both the companies on their list were lined up with jobs and not available until Monday. I was terribly desperate!!!

So, we started calling our neighbor and tried to get a referral from him. The plumber was excellent and came over right away. What he and Johnny found out was that the worker who put in the loops had dugged up our sewage line. What???? That's my first reaction!!! Haven't they checked with the city of all the lay outs (pipes and cables) before the digging? I was totally overwhelmed with the cleaning already, and now I had to think about the bathroom issue for the next two days??? I left the room and had Johnny took care of that. Thank goodness, the workers came within an hour and dug a big hole (that able to hold 1000 gallon) for us so that we can do our usual cleaning and stuff.

All I can say in this whole situation is to count our blessings!!! Had Jady not had an accident, the washer would be pouring 40 gallons of water in a minute and our whole basement would be flooded. That would be a total disaster!!! I can only be thankful that we were watched over!!!

Johnny's Birthday (Oct 11, Sunday)

It was Johnny's birthday yesterday. We came home from church and had an egg custard pie (since we are not fans with cake) and some curry pasteries. I guess it's a mom's thing... I felt so fulfilling when the crew empty everything on the table. :) Then, Johnny opened our gifts:

• Jeannie got daddy a car scraper
• Evan bought daddy a T-shirt
• I mod podged a pencil jar and a personalized birthday card for my husband. Well, I got the idea from a flyer at a craft store and spent a few hours looking on the website to find out how to do it. In fact, it's quite a simple, but fun project. I love personalized, homemade stuff!!!

Talent Show/Pumpkin Painting/Indoor Gardening!!

It's was a well pack Sat morning (Oct 10). We attended a Primary Talent Show at church, then went pumpking painting at the Y, out to dinner and celebrate Johnny's birthday (10/11) at the hotel across the KOP mall.

Evan's talent show picture at the church when he was doing the bike tricks. He went so fast that I was not able to snap a good picture of him.

Then, we went to the Y and paint pumkins with Jady and the kids. Jady had so much fun that she did not even want to leave.

Went home, clean the house, and out to dinner in celebration of Johnny's birthday. We did not go out on his actual birthday because it fell on Sunday this year! The dinner was awesome and everyone in the family seemed to have a great time.

After dinner, we spent about half an hour at the mall. We saw this AeroGXXX for a great value of $50 instead of $129 at JCPXXX. That's exactly what I asked my husband for my birthday!!! So, Johnny got the system and set it up running as soon as we got home. (It's funny that we don't give surprised gift anymore.... Johnny and I don't like the idea of returning birthday gift that was given by our spouse.)

sure, you don't have to wait until your birthday though
On Fri, Oct 2, 2009 at 2:01 PM, Pauline XXX paulinexxxxxx@xxxx.com wrote:
hun, i really want this for my birthday!!!

http://www.herbkits.com/medicinal.htm